--- title: "Youth" year: 2015 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/youth-2015" fi1m_score: 66 critics_score: 68 critics_reviews: 28 published: "2026-09-17T08:18:57.607466+00:00" updated: "2026-09-17T08:18:57.823810+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Youth (2015) Directed by Paolo Sorrentino · 2h 05m · MPA R · Comedy, Drama, Romance **Fi1m score: 66** · Critics 68 from 28 reviews *In a sentence:* A Swiss spa with excellent views and rather too much advice about life > Paolo Sorrentino’s *Youth* has two fine central performances and too many speeches about getting old. Michael Caine supplies the feeling that the film’s elaborate images and wandering conversations keep interrupting. ## Synopsis At a Swiss spa, Fred Ballinger (Michael Caine), an ageing composer, and his old friend Mick Boyle (Harvey Keitel) talk about their lives and their work. Around them are Lena Ballinger (Rachel Weisz) and Jimmy Tree (Paul Dano), among the people drawn into the resort’s conversations about ambition, memory and desire. The two artists consider what remains of their creative lives as their bodies grow older. Away from ordinary routines in the Alps, they find that rest leaves plenty of time to think about the things that trouble them. ## Review Paolo Sorrentino takes two ageing artists to a Swiss spa and gives them ample opportunity to consider what their lives have amounted to. *Youth* is worth considering for its actors and music, though its observations about age are thinner than its patient delivery suggests. There is welcome humour in the friendship, and some feeling that does not arrive on cue. Too often, however, a conversation gives way to another carefully arranged image just as somebody has begun to interest us. Michael Caine is the main reason to stay. As Fred Ballinger, the ageing composer, he gives the droll lines a faint tiredness that makes a joke sound like something requiring effort. Harvey Keitel brings enough warmth to Mick Boyle to establish an old friendship without much explanation. We were moved by their exchanges, particularly Michael Caine’s reluctance to make Fred’s sadness any more conspicuous than his humour. The film should trust those conversations for longer. Luca Bigazzi’s cinematography gives the Alpine scenery an almost distracting sharpness and scale. The views supply the pleasure the dialogue keeps promising, although the care spent arranging bodies within them can make the people seem like another attraction at the resort. Ludovica Ferrario’s production design makes the spa look comfortable enough to encourage a long stay and orderly enough to make that stay oppressive. That suits people with time to rehearse their regrets. It also leaves us looking at the accommodation when we ought to be listening. Cristiano Travaglioli’s editing allows the film to move by association, passing between conversations, music and the life of the resort rather than pushing towards the next event. That looseness is initially agreeable, since the friendship needs room for its small changes of mood. Over 125 minutes, though, the pauses and digressions begin to feel like a reluctance to choose what matters. David Lang’s music helps: its measured phrasing brings some calm to the succession of conversations and images, and makes a welcome change from being offered advice about life. As writer, Paolo Sorrentino too often gives his characters a thought about life when they need something particular to say to one another. Some lines have the stiffness of remarks polished in advance, and the delivery cannot always loosen them. Rachel Weisz and Paul Dano offer welcome changes of presence as Lena Ballinger and Jimmy Tree, but the supporting characters are not given the same room as the two friends. The women, in particular, too often seem to have been brought into view to help the men think about themselves. A reflective comedy about old age need not hurry, and complaining that this one wanders would miss much of what it is trying to do. The problem is how often it returns to a feeling already expressed without making that feeling more complicated. The humour is a considerable virtue here, reducing the men’s self-importance and allowing their friendship to become affectionate without turning soft. More of that willingness to be ordinary would have helped. There is enough here for admirers of leisurely, visually elaborate drama, especially those willing to follow an actor through an uneven script. Michael Caine rewards that attention. We would hesitate to recommend it to anyone hoping for much wisdom about getting older. Give it time for the company, and expect a few conversations to outstay their welcome. *Fi1m score 66, published 17 September 2026.* ## What the critics say Most critics respond warmly to Youth, with praise clustering around Michael Caine and Harvey Keitel’s performances as ageing artists, Sorrentino’s elaborate compositions and his use of music. Caine’s humour, restraint and world-weariness give many reviewers an emotional connection to the film’s reflections on age and creativity. Admirers find tenderness and melancholy beneath the visual extravagance, with several enjoying the shifts between absurd comedy and quieter feeling. The spread of opinion is wide, and the main disagreement concerns how much those images and observations amount to. Even some favourable reviews find the storytelling rambling or the dialogue stiff; less persuaded critics see attractive surfaces concealing thin ideas and limited emotional depth. Slant Magazine raises a sharper objection to the film’s narrow sympathy and its treatment of women as symbolic types. The Independent also breaks with the praise for Caine, finding him aloof and short of his usual charm. ### Reviews we read (28) - **Los Angeles Times**, Kenneth Turan (90/100, inferred): Youth is a quixotic, idiosyncratic cinematic essay and meditation on what lasts and matters at any age, perfectly suited to Sorrentino’s visual flair and soul-capturing style. Michael Caine’s nuanced performance anchors the stellar ensemble in its offbeat rhythms. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-youth-review-20151204-column.html) - **Variety**, Jay Weissberg (90/100, inferred): Sorrentino delivers his most tender film yet, an emotionally rich contemplation of life’s wisdom with Caine and Keitel bringing lifetime depth to the roles of old friends. Stunning compositions, music, and humor balance the quiet melancholy and human experience. [Read](https://variety.com/2015/film/festivals/youth-review-cannes-michael-caine-paolo-sorrentino-1201501415/) - **Evening Standard**, David Sexton (85/100, inferred): The critic calls the film exquisite and operatic, praising its inventiveness, brio and poignancy in turns bitter, hilarious, vivid and beautiful. Michael Caine is superb as the ageing composer. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/cannes-2015-youth-film-review-michael-caine-superb-in-inventive-poignant-and-operatic-offering-from-paolo-sorrentino-10263109.html) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, Todd McCarthy (85/100, inferred): Praises the film as a voluptuary’s feast of sensory cinematic pleasures and an improvement on Sorrentino’s prior English-language effort, highlighting the strong performances by Michael Caine and Harvey Keitel as aging artists. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/youth-cannes-review-797046/) - **IndieWire**, Eric Kohn (80/100, inferred): Highlights Michael Caine and Harvey Keitel delivering some of their best performances in years in Sorrentino’s whimsical take on aging artists at a Swiss spa. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/culture/cannes-review-michael-caine-and-harvey-keitel-give-their-best-performances-in-years-in-sorrentinos-whimsical-youth-61686/) - **Little White Lies**, Adam Woodward (4/4/4): The critic calls it a joyous, gently moving experience anchored by a fearless central turn from Michael Caine. Sorrentino delivers an operatic ode to old age that reminds viewers respect can take a lifetime to earn. [Read](https://lwlies.com/reviews/youth/) - **Radio Times** (★★★★): Michael Caine makes hay with a soulful role that brings his playful, world-weary charm to the fore. The film is a playground for Sorrentino, whose ear for music and visual genius take viewers from the absurd to the profound. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/youth-review-michael-caine-makes-hay-with-a-soulful-role-that-brings-his-playful-world-weary-charm-to-the-fore/) - **The Times**, Kate Muir (80/100, inferred): A visual banquet meditating on ageing with sophistication, wit and tenderness. It praises the crackling dialogue and performances of Caine and Keitel as the affectionate, curmudgeonly core, along with Sorrentino's masterful filmmaking and optimistic final scene. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/youth-zxjqk37l93z) - **The AV Club**, Mike D'Angelo (B): Notes Sorrentino’s musical, free-associative style and Caine’s dignified star turn, while observing that the film’s intuitive juxtapositions can feel liberating or oppressive depending on the viewer. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/michael-caine-lends-his-star-power-to-the-bewitching-cu-1798185880) - **Screen Daily** (75/100, inferred): Sorrentino's wry cinematic opera reaches new heights of showy magnificence in this meditation on ageing and creativity set in a Swiss spa. It dazzles with ravishing images and performances but the pursuit of the aesthetic money-shot holds it back from greatness. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/youth-review/5087436.article) - **Film Comment**, Jonathan Romney (70/100, inferred): The critic finds the film imperfect and maximalist but relishes its brio, flamboyance, and excessive grace, calling it a madcap oratorio of erratic splendor. [Read](https://www.filmcomment.com/film-of-the-week-youth/) - **RogerEbert.com**, Simon Abrams (70/100, inferred): The film is an anti-elegiac drama-comedy that emphasizes small, commonplace emotions over grand wisdom, with characters realizing their limited perspectives. It culminates in a powerful operatic performance that underscores its deceptive emotional depth. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/youth-2015) - **The New York Times**, A.O. Scott (70/100, inferred): Sorrentino’s film centers on two aging artists at a Swiss resort reflecting on senescence and nostalgia in a Euro buddy-movie style. The director’s exquisite pictorial sense and the music stand out amid some translated dialogue stiffness. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/04/movies/review-sorrentinos-youth-a-euro-buddy-film.html) - **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (3/5): An entertaining but minor work from Sorrentino, visually stylish yet ultimately underwhelming in substance. It singles out Michael Caine's droll and watchable performance for praise amid the film's elegant but wan exercise in ennui. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/jan/28/youth-review-life-and-death-as-seen-from-a-luxury-hot-tub) - **The New Yorker**, Anthony Lane (60/100, inferred): The film meditates on old age and artistic frustrations through suavity at a spa, feeling sumptuous yet aimless like leafing through an album of sights and sounds. Three strong female performances provide fire amid the collective reflection. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/movies/youth-3) - **Time Out**, Dave Calhoun (3/5): The film is diverting but shallow, a low-key and rambling follow-up lacking the coherent power of Sorrentino's prior works. It offers visual ballsiness and some great moments but feels reckless next to its half-formed observations on ageing and ambition. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/youth) - **Vulture**, David Edelstein (60/100, inferred): Finds the film ravishing and compelling in its depiction of alienation and inertia but ultimately lacking forward momentum, resulting in an emotionally paralyzed work about emotionally paralyzed characters. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/2015/12/movie-review-youth.html) - **Empire**, Phil de Semlyen (55/100, inferred): The film is a witty mood-piece with quirky cameos and vivid style in an Alpine setting of luxurious ennui, but its riffs on artistic impasse do not land as impressively as the director's earlier work. Real heart is too often sidelined. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/youth-review/) - **Slant Magazine**, Jake Cole (35/100, inferred): Critiques the film’s brittle ornamentation and narrow empathy, noting graceful moments but faulting its sympathy for characters’ worst impulses and treatment of women and other figures as thin symbolic types. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/youth-2015/) - **The Independent** (30/100, inferred): The critic describes the film as wildly indulgent pastiche Fellini, with too many whimsical interludes and meditations that prevent depth or pathos. Caine delivers an aloof performance short on his usual charm. [Read](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/youth-film-review-michael-caine-gives-an-aloof-performance-in-this-wildly-indulgent-film-a6840621.html) - **Collider**, Talia Soghomonian (B+): The film offers vivid, sometimes surreal tableaux and colorful characters but the story gets lost in its aesthetics and grandiloquence. It is a ravishing yet occasionally incoherent portrait that remains poignant with touching characters. [Read](https://collider.com/youth-review-cannes-2015/) - **Consequence** (80/100, inferred): The film is a languid meditation on aging, art, and mortality centered on performances by Michael Caine and Harvey Keitel at an alpine spa. It foregrounds strong acting over spectacle while exploring passion, loss, and the human comedy. [Read](https://consequence.net/2015/12/film-review-youth/) - **The Skinny**, Chris Fyvie (★★★★): Praises the surreal look at mortality and the cast's chemistry and wit, noting it's arch but irresistible. [Read](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/new-releases/youth-paolo-sorrentino) - **Paste**, Nick Schager (8.0): The film swirls around themes of life's impermanence, love's fragility, and desire's persistence in a Swiss spa setting. It is praised for its sumptuous visuals, light melodious touch, and potent melancholic spirit in the finale. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/youth) - **Eye for Film**, Richard Mowe (60/100, inferred): Sorrentino’s visual flair and fertile imagination make the film constantly engaging, with the camera capturing striking vistas and bodies in an Alpine setting. The trappings and style more than make up for any lack of substance in this exploration of ageing and obsessions. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/youth-2015-film-review-by-richard-mowe) - **The Wrap**, Robert Abele (45/100, inferred): The critic finds the film visually sumptuous but lacking in emotional depth and cohesion, with pleasures that are sporadic and never deep. Caine and Keitel deliver strong performances, and the music-filled finale stands out for its ruminative grace. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/youth-review-michael-caine-jane-fonda-harvey-keitel/) - **HeyUGuys**, Jo-Ann Titmarsh (40/100, inferred): The film is visually striking at times but ultimately a damp squib that feels superficial despite its ambitions about memory, relationships and sadness. Strong performances from Jane Fonda and Michael Caine stand out amid the confusion over characters and setting. [Read](https://www.heyuguys.com/youth-review/) - **The Playlist**, The Playlist Staff (30/100, inferred): An infinity pool of beautiful hogwash that offers precious little wisdom despite observations and stilted epithets. There are some winning performances and the film mostly looks great, but it lacks shading or ambiguity. [Read](https://theplaylist.net/review-michael-caine-harvey-keitel-jane-fonda-rachel-weisz-and-paul-dano-in-paolo-sorrentinos-youth-20151203/) ## Details - **Director:** Paolo Sorrentino - **Director:** Paolo Sorrentino - **Writer:** Paolo Sorrentino - **Cinematography:** Luca Bigazzi - **Editor:** Cristiano Travaglioli - **Music:** David Lang - **Production design:** Ludovica Ferrario - **Costume design:** Carlo Poggioli - **Producer:** Nicola Giuliano, Francesca Cima, Carlotta Calori - **Cast:** Michael Caine as Fred Ballinger; Harvey Keitel as Mick Boyle; Rachel Weisz as Lena Ballinger; Paul Dano as Jimmy Tree; Jane Fonda as Brenda Morel; Mark Kozelek as Mark Kozelek; Robert Seethaler as Luca Moroder; Alex Macqueen as Queen's Emissary - **Runtime:** 2h 05m - **Certificate (MPA):** R - **Release (the US):** 3 October 2015 - **Genres:** Comedy, Drama, Romance - **Budget:** $13 million - **Box office:** $2 million - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSvgKy90t4Y ## Where to watch in the US - Amazon Prime Video: rent $3.99, hd - Apple TV: rent $4.99, hd - Amazon Prime Video: buy $4.99, hd - Apple TV: buy $14.99, hd *Checked 2026-09-17.* Also available in: AR, AT, AU, BE, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, DE, DK, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, IE, IT, JP, LT, MX, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PT, SE, UA, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## Awards - David di Donatello for Best Director 2016: David di Donatello for Best Director (nominated) - European Film Award for Best Actor 2015: European Film Award for Best Actor (won) - European Film Award for Best Actress 2015: European Film Award for Best Actress (nominated) - European Film Award for Best Director 2015: European Film Award for Best Director (won) - European Film Award for Best Film 2015: European Film Award for Best Film (won) - European Film Award for Best Screenwriter 2015: European Film Award for Best Screenwriter (nominated) ## If you liked this - *Wild Strawberries* (1957): A tougher account of old age, memory and the effort of facing yourself. - *The Great Beauty* (2013), Fi1m 83: Paolo Sorrentino gives another ageing man beautiful surroundings and plenty to regret. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-great-beauty.md) - *Ikiru* (1952), Fi1m 92: An ageing man’s search for purpose is given firmer dramatic consequences. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/ikiru.md) - *The Straight Story* (1999), Fi1m 88: Quiet conversations and patient observation make an older man’s journey matter. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-straight-story.md) - *45 Years* (2015), Fi1m 88: Old unhappiness disturbs a comfortable present in a more tightly controlled drama. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/45-years.md) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/youth-2015